NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: LOWER EAST SIDE

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: LOWER EAST SIDE; We'll Stay, Squatters Insist

By COLIN MOYNIHAN

Published: April 4, 1999

Nearly seven years ago, a small group of squatters occupied an abandoned and decrepit six-story brick building at 713 East Ninth Street, between Avenues C and D. As their numbers swelled to 40 to 60, they built dozens of apartments, repaired the roof and connected the building to utility lines.

But in early March the squatters, known locally as Dos Blocos, or Two Blocks, for their tendency to stay within a small neighborhood area, were told to leave by April 1. Although last week a housing court judge gave them a stay of eviction until an April 12 hearing, many tenants feel eviction is inevitable.

But some squatters say they will resist. In the last week, they have painted murals on the weathered facade of the building, along with mottoes like ''Liberty Under Siege'' and ''Housing Is a Human Right.''

East Nine L.L.C., the owner of the building, has sparred with the squatters since buying the structure at a government auction two years ago. A lawyer for the company, Steven Sperber, insists that the eviction is justified.

''They have broken into the building, and they have never paid a penny of rent,'' Mr. Sperber said.

But Colleen McGuire, a lawyer who has represented members of Dos Blocos since 1994, said, ''They made viable housing for homeless people and they should be rewarded.''

Last Wednesday night, the squatters held a ''garden party of defiance'' in the courtyard next to the building. Some two dozen squatters and visitors sat on logs and stone benches in the garden, which was illuminated by tiki torches. The crowd sipped beer and talked, as a man played the flute and a woman tapped out a rhythm on a bongo.

On the third floor of the building, Stacey Lomoe-Smith, 22, and Adam Nodelman, 32, sat in the one-bedroom space they and their dog, Sequoia, have lived in for a year. Mr. Nodelman pointed out the hardwood floors, kitchen and bathroom.

''The walls could use a little work,'' he said, ''but other than that it's just like any other apartment.'' He complained that, although he has a full-time job as a cook and Ms. Lomoe-Smith works as a photographer, they cannot afford the going rate for Manhattan apartments.